JVC XRCD CDs, are they worth the extra cash?

Hi,
Can the normal CD players play the XRCD disks? How do the XRCD disks compare to HDCD disks? My CD player can play HDCD but not sure on XRCD.
Thanks
DT

Worldcup: XRCDs are not encoded, so they play in any CD player, just like a normal CD (only better!)

You know what would be great?? An XRCD encoded in HDCD... That would be neat

As noted by Bomarc above, the JVC 20 bit K2 Super Coding process is excellent too. Recently all eight of the original Creedence Clearwater Revival (CCR) CDs were re-mastered using the JVC K2 process. I have the eight original CDs, the two gold Chronicle CDs, and also all eight of the recent JVC K2 CDS. The JVC K2 CDs are easily the best of the bunch, and are clearly better than the gold ones.

The K2s sound more natural with excellent vocal and instrumental timbre and much less electronic edge or "glare"-- hate to say it, but they sound more analog like! The gold CDs may be a bit smoother than the originals, but in a blind test, I doubt I could tell which was which. Cheers. Craig

I own 10 XRCD's or XRCD2's. I have not heard another hybrid cd format (that can play on a regular cd player) that compares with the quality of the XRCD sound. I recently got Dire Straits: Brothers in Arms. It's a major improvement over the original.